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Pronunciation Problems in Ukraine - TEFL Blog
Sun, 02 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Pronunciation Problems in Ukraine
It is not a secret that pronouncing English sounds easily and correctly is a big challenge for non-native speakers. Of course, the complexity of English pronunciation consists not only of particular sounds but also of several other aspects such as intonation, stress, rhythm, and timing. I would like to analyze one of the biggest and most obvious pronunciation problems for Ukrainian speakers of English which, in my opinion, is sound differences and the way of pronouncing sounds.
Table of Contents
Sound System
Articulation
Aspiration
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hanna H. Please note that this blog post might not... [Read more]
Vietnamese Pronunciation Problems in English - TEFL Blog
Tue, 10 Mar 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Vietnamese Pronunciation Problems in English
Speaking like a native speaker is always expected from learners. However, they encounter many factors that prevent their success. Therefore, as an English teacher, I want to explore some common difficulties that Vietnamese students face when they learn to pronounce English so that I can teach effectively and help them communicate more confidently.
Table of Contents
Problem with vowels
Problems with consonants
Word stress, sentence stress
Intonation and word connection
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thuong L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or... [Read more]
The Value of Perfecting Pronunciation - TEFL Blog
Mon, 29 Mar 2021 Regan McAllister
TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas
The Value of Perfecting Pronunciation
Learning another language has many different components. There is vocabulary, grammar, new sounds and sometimes a new alphabet. There are the receptive (passive) skills of reading and listening and the productive (active) skills of writing and speaking. Ideally, all components are learned at a similar pace to achieve a well rounded grasp on the target language. Unfortunately, this often isn't how language learning transpires. Instead, it is common for learners to excel in certain areas while others will require more time and effort. As a teacher, it can be easy to lean into students' strengths and focus less on their weaknesses. Generally, the receptive skills... [Read more]
Pronunciation Mistakes Made by Russian Speakers - TEFL Blog
Tue, 04 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Pronunciation Mistakes Made by Russian Speakers
The purpose of my essay is to outline some of the most frequently occurred pronunciation mistakes made by Russian learners and share some of the teaching ideas based on a few sources and my own experience of teaching and learning English as a foreign and second language.
Table of Contents
State of the Problem
Russian Phonetics vs. English Phonetics
Choice of Activities
Vowel Sounds
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olga R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
State of the Problem
Teaching English phonology and pronunciation for Russian... [Read more]
Common Pronunciation Mistakes of Japanese Students - TEFL Blog
Thu, 19 Dec 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Common Pronunciation Mistakes of Japanese Students
This piece will discuss the difficulties faced by Japanese learners of English regarding English pronunciation and suggest methods to help learners in different age groups overcome them. It posits that most difficulties stem from the differences in phonology between the English alphabet and the Japanese kana system.
Table of Contents
Differences in the Alphabetic Systems
Ways to Overcome Difficulties
Working with Adults
How to Approach Young Students
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Niall M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of... [Read more]
Pronunciation Challenges Students Face in China - TEFL Blog
Wed, 08 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Pronunciation Challenges Students Face in China
Every learner of a foreign language may face pronunciation problems now and then. Languages that belong to one language group have more in common in phonics and are usually easier to learn to pronounce correctly. But such languages as English and Chinese are so different, that Chinese learners (and I bet English speaking learners of Chinese too) often have many difficulties in pronunciation.
Table of Contents
State of the problem
Common pronunciation errors
How to correct pronunciation problems
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Evgeniya S.
State of the problem
I have... [Read more]
The Ideal Tool for Pronunciation Training - TEFL Blog
Fri, 07 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
The Ideal Tool for Pronunciation Training
Helping students improve their pronunciation can be challenging for teachers and students alike. For students, they may have a strong desire to sound fluent but might struggle in knowing what mistakes they make and how to correct them. For teachers, they may be aware of the mistakes but may lack tools to help students accurately and precisely correct them.
Table of Contents
Common Methods
Feedback
Correcting Techniques
Technologies and Pronunciation
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kent L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.... [Read more]
Difficulties of English Pronunciation in Vietnam - TEFL Blog
Thu, 19 Mar 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Difficulties of English Pronunciation in Vietnam
Once I arrived in Vietnam to teach the English language, I realized that poor pronunciation is common in Vietnamese students as well as teachers. These mistakes are similar, as it was obvious the Vietnamese teachers passed them to the students. In this essay, I am going to deliberate on the causes of the problem and suggest a few solutions.
Table of Contents
Language structure
How to work this out?
Consonants
Reading comprehension
Word building
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mohammad E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Pronunciation And Phonology/intonation - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Pronunciation and phonology in the EFL Classroom - Intonation
Whereas stress is typically concerned with one individual word, intonation is generally concerned with the variation in volume and pitch throughout an entire sentence. Intonation carries the message of a sentence. It's particularly important when questioning or agreeing, disagreeing and confirming statements. It's also very important when expressing emotions and feelings. The normal pattern for intonation is the rise-fall. Few examples would be ?I haven't seen him for a week,? or a simple word as ?okay?. With the falling intonation, we?re indicating that we're finished speaking. Again, ?I haven't seen him for a week? and ?okay?. A few more examples would be ?I'll see you at six then,? or a question of information ?How... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Pronunciation And Phonology/phonemes - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Pronunciation and Phonology in the EFL Classroom - Phonemes
In this video we'll be looking at the international phonemic alphabet and how it's used in the classroom. There are other phonemic alphabets but this is the most popular and the system, which is most widely used. You may have seen some of these symbols before as any good dictionary will supplement standard English spellings with the phonemic spellings to aid in pronunciation practice. Here we have a situation where we have what are called phonemes and each phoneme represents a sound within the English language. How is this helpful? Well, what it does is help students understand how to say words rather than simply relying on the often archaic English spellings. To illustrate this point let's for a moment put ourselves in... [Read more]
Pronunciation Challenges of French Native-Speaking Students - TEFL Blog
Mon, 14 Oct 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Pronunciation Challenges of French Native-Speaking Students
Each student faces their difficulties when it comes to English pronunciation depending on their country of origin. This essay will focus on the pronunciation difficulties facing ESL students in France and will also propose some solutions to help students overcome these difficulties.
Table of Contents
French Sound System
IPA
Difficult Sounds
The Dark /L/ Sound
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kerri M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
French Sound System
The number of English vowel sounds greatly outnumbers those... [Read more]
English Pronunciation Problems of Italian Native Speakers - TEFL Blog
Sun, 12 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
English Pronunciation Problems of Italian Native Speakers
Teaching English pronunciation to students of other languages is always a big deal. English teachers from other countries may think that it is a topic to be skipped or only briefly introduced to students, but it is one of the most important subjects and it should be an integral part of an English course. As a matter of fact, the full understanding of a language and good communication actually depend, to a certain extent, on how correctly words are pronounced. Also, it is not only a matter of pronunciation but intonation. Every language has its own intonation and stress on words, so an English learner could find it difficult to get used to a new way of pronouncing words in... [Read more]
Pronunciation Problems of Students in the Philippines - TEFL Blog
Wed, 08 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Pronunciation Problems of Students in the Philippines
English has its place as the most frequently required subject of mostly Philippines' school and universities. This is because of the belief of most Filipinos that the mastery of the English language is the most important demands globally. We grew up believing that learning a second language is not an easy task, although other nationalities find that it is easy for us to imitate and practice the language. However, that is not the case. The problems of teaching and learning a foreign language, specifically English, have suggested some studies of the errors made by most Filipino students. In spite of the knowledge of English of the Filipino, there are times that most students... [Read more]
Common Pronunciation Challenges for Learners in Azerbaijan - TEFL Blog
Mon, 17 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Common Pronunciation Challenges for Learners in Azerbaijan
Pronunciation is an essential part of the English language. Clear and cohesive speech can create meaningful conversations, meanwhile incorrect pronunciation can lead to misunderstandings. Every, non-native English-speaking country has pronunciation problems. One of the countries which come across with pronunciation errors is my homeland Azerbaijan. It is a lovely country, with nice traditions and people.
Table of Contents
Multilingual Country
Historical Reasons
Modern Situation
Digital Age
Teacher Training
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Narmina M. Please note that this... [Read more]
Teaching English Pronunciation to Students from Japan - TEFL Blog
Wed, 05 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Teaching English Pronunciation to Students from Japan
In my experience teaching elementary and junior high school level English in Japan, several different pronunciation problems appear frequently. The Japanese phonemic inventory is smaller than English's phonemic inventory, and the sounds present in each language differ from each other quite dramatically. Because of this, it can be difficult for native Japanese speakers to learn and master English pronunciation, but there are a few teaching techniques that can help students overcome this difficulty.
Table of Contents
Consonants Challenge
Non-Existent Sounds in the Native Language
Vowel Challenge
3 Methods to Work on Problems
1. Visual Representation
2. IPA Phonetics
3. Pronunciation... [Read more]
TEFL English Pronunciation Videos - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ International TEFL & TESOL
TEFL Pronunciation
In these videos our grammar expert Linda demonstrates how to correctly pronounce a wide variety of common and not so common words that you might encounter in an English language classroom. Come back regularly as our Ask Linda series is frequently updated.
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Tefl reviews - Pronunciation And Phonology/phonetic Alphabet - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Pronunciation and Phonology in the EFL Classroom - International Phonetic Alphabet
A better way to go about imparting how to make sounds or what sounds are utilized in a word, is this international phonemic alphabet. Now we have as mentioned one symbol being used in all the words which share that same sound. Now once we get a little bit more familiar with our phonemic alphabet we can also show how different our different sounds can be as in this symbol for ?ooh?, this symbol for ?ow? and this symbol for ?uh?.
Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Pronunciation And Phonology/connected Speech - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Pronunciation and Phonology in the EFL Classroom - Connected Speech
Connected speech is also an important element of phonology and it's involved in joining words together in an effect to make our speech more efficient. Some might say it's a product of being lazy but nonetheless it's what we all do and we want all of our non-native speakers to speak as naturally as possible, so we have to be aware of these things. Here are a few of the more common examples. We have linking, dropping, changing and extra lettering. An example of each would be with linking, we link our words together so that they almost in effect become one word. Instead of saying ?What do you want to do,? we typically will say ?Whatdoyou want to do?? Then, we can also have dropping. Rather than pronouncing each and... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Pronunciation And Phonology/oh Sound - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Pronunciation and Phonology in the EFL Classroom - "Oh" Sound
Here we have a set of five words, which all share one sound: the ?oh? sound, as in ?go?, ?show?, ?dough?, ?note? and ?boat?. They?re five different spelling patterns to tell our students so they can identify when to make the ?oh? sound. We can have a simple letter ?o?, ?ow?, ?ough?, ?o? with the magic ?e? which turns our vowel into what we knew as long sounds and the ?oa? as in ?boat?. Now, for a non-native learner, perhaps they can handle something like this. They remember that these spelling combinations help to produce the ?oh? sound and they can go about their business looking at the words and memorizing this knowing that these spelling patterns will produce the sound ?oh?. Now that?s okay until we get to a... [Read more]
The Problem of Pronunciation for Russians Learning English - TEFL Blog
Wed, 29 May 2019 Mark Crocker
Alumni Experiences
The Problem of Pronunciation for Russians Learning English
As a native Russian speaker I was worried about pronunciation from the very beginning of my English studies in primary school. It so happened that in my family my grandmother was an English teacher in high school who had worked in this position for more than 50 years. Naturally, I began my acquaintance with English much earlier than most of my peers. And the first step in the work of my grandmother in teaching me a foreign language was the formulation of pronunciation, something that most Russians have problems with.
Table of Contents
The Main Issues That Cause Problems for Russian Students
The Problem With Vowels
Looking on the Bright Side
If I Can Do It, So Can Any Russian... [Read more]
3 Common Pronunciation Problems for Students in Peru - TEFL Blog
Fri, 22 Feb 2019 Jon ITTT
Alumni Experiences
3 Common Pronunciation Problems for Students in Peru
Difficulty with pronunciation is likely something that every EFL teacher will face at one point or another in their career. Every language in the world has different ways of pronouncing different words/ letters. In addition to this, most speakers of other languages have heavy accents that can make pronouncing English words very difficult. This can be a challenge when teaching English as a foreign language. It can be especially challenging because not all learners around the world will face the same problems. Students in Vietnam will likely have different pronunciation problems than students in Kenya and students in Brazil will likely have different pronunciation problems than students... [Read more]
Pronunciation Mistakes that Brazilians Make While Speaking English - TEFL Blog
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Pronunciation Mistakes that Brazilians Make While Speaking English
The origin of many non-native English speakers can be recognized by their accents. For instance, Indians, French, and German people are easily identified by their accent. However, there are accents that are not easily recognizable, and one of them is the Brazilian accent. We can recognize Brazilians while he or she speaks English by 6 mistakes in the pronunciation that only Brazilians make.
Table of Contents
Listen to this blog post:
Additional Sounds
Sound Replacement
Say as it is Written
Difficult Sounds
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Monica D. Please... [Read more]
Challenges for Vietnamese Students in American English Pronunciation - TEFL Blog
Wed, 29 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Challenges for Vietnamese Students in American English Pronunciation
Today, Vietnam is entering the world stage as a united and independent country, eager to learn English, but unable to meet its standards for EFL education. Vietnamese students are a victim of several unfortunate coincidences in pronunciation, and often complain that reading and writing are easy to learn but speaking and listening simply impossible. Two huge differences in the way these languages differentiate words have made English communication into a "black box" for the Vietnamese, more difficult for them to penetrate than for other Asian peoples. Among these differences are the very small number of shared sounds, as well as tonogenesis, a pitch-based method... [Read more]
Why Phonetics and Phonology are Fundamental for Pronunciation - TEFL Blog
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Why Phonetics and Phonology are Fundamental for Pronunciation
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, pronunciation is "how words are pronounced. Pronunciation can be an intimidating prospect for English language learners, especially since English phonetics and phonology hardly seem consistent. The difficulty of English pronunciation should not be underestimated as speaking is a vital component of language learning. Confidence in this skill can be closely linked to students' accuracy and fluency. Therefore, a teacher should understand the basics of phonology and phonetics to help build students' confidence in their speaking skills.
Table of Contents
Phonetics is useful in explaining how words are pronounced.
While phonetics and... [Read more]
Three Typical Pronunciation Problems for Japanese ESL Students - TEFL Blog
Tue, 17 Mar 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Three Typical Pronunciation Problems for Japanese ESL Students
According to a study by scholars and experts in the field of linguistics, more specifically in the article of Riney & Anderson-Hsieh from International Christian University, the native language (L1) is a good predictor of pronunciation accuracy in English as researched by Suter in 1976. In the same article, it was mentioned that a subsequent study by Purcell and Suter in 1980, found that non-native speakers who are most likely to pronounce English (L2) poorly, fit the profile in Japanese ESL students.
Table of Contents
1. /L/ and /R/ sound
2. /ng/ sound
3. /th/ Fricatives
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This post was... [Read more]
Common English Pronunciation Issues for Native Italian Speakers - TEFL Blog
Mon, 29 Jun 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Common English Pronunciation Issues for Native Italian Speakers
Proper pronunciation is essential to the understanding and communication of a language, and therefore it is an essential component of English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. Students of different nationalities and backgrounds will have different issues regarding English pronunciation depending on their native language. Their pronunciation issues often directly stem from the pronunciation of their native language because of differences between the two languages. This summative task will highlight the most common English pronunciation issues for Italian native speakers.
Table of Contents
The main problem that many Italian students have with their English... [Read more]
Why is Pronunciation Important in Teaching Business English? - TEFL Blog
Fri, 03 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Why is Pronunciation Important in Teaching Business English?
Nowadays, English is becoming popular due to advanced technology and more people receiving higher education. That Goods, capital, services, people and even knowledge travels around the world make a common and standard language necessary. English is an ideal one. However, when people do business, they still talk most. A standard or conceivable accent is the first step towards a successful deal. This passage aims at emphasizing the importance of pronunciation in teaching business English. Generally speaking, teaching pronunciation specifically is good for students learning and career development. It is also good for teachers to earn more popularity as well as the... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Pronunciation And Phonology/consonants And Vowels - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Pronunciation and Phonology in the EFL Classroom - Consonants and Vowels
The next thing we should look at is how our consonants are arranged for the top two rows we have P and F at the left side of our chart and G and J at the right side of our chart. They're arranged this way because if we analyze the way we speak we're using the front of our mouth to use these sounds as in ?p? and ?f? and I'm using my lips and my teeth to produce those sounds and as we move to the right on the chart slowly but surely we're making those sounds it towards the back of our mouth. We can use the examples of ?g?. The sound ?g? is produced further back in our mouth than ?p?. The next thing we'll notice about our chart is that some of our symbols are shaded. Notice that none of the symbols in the vowel... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Pronunciation And Phonology/phonetic Alphabet Issues - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Pronunciation and Phonology in the EFL Classroom - Issues with the International Phonetic Alphabet
There are two issues that need to be stressed when working with the international phonemic alphabet. First is the fact that we are no longer concerned with how a word is traditionally spelled. Additionally we need to stress that we are only concerned with the sounds needed to correctly produce a word. So rather than numerous spellings, which can often be pronounced in different ways, we have one symbol representing one sound. Once we can isolate a sound, rather than juggling various spellings, we can work with our students on how to say that sound. Doing that successfully is related to manner and place of articulation, which will be covered shortly. To get a better understanding of... [Read more]
Common Pronunciation Errors Russian Native Speakers Make in English - TEFL Blog
Wed, 22 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Common Pronunciation Errors Russian Native Speakers Make in English
Even though native speakers claim that it's always possible to understand people speaking English regardless of their accent, sometimes it might be extremely difficult. My native language is Russian and I can tell for a fact that Russian and English are very different in multiple things – but right now I'd like to focus on pronunciation.
Table of Contents
All Sounds are Pronounced in Russian
Several Sounds Do not Exist in Russian
Long and Short Vowels Sound the Same for The Russians
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Viktoriia Z. Please note that this blog... [Read more]